Those Deputies who have spoken on this motion are completely out of touch with the situation which exists. Whatever rent structure is employed it will not be perfect. During the years I served on Dublin Corporation a series of motions were placed before the corporation asking for modifications to be made to the existing system.
The differential rent system was introduced by Dublin Corporation in 1950 and ratified by the Minister for Local Government, who was a member of the coalition Government. It was found difficult to modify and change the system once it was established. The system has been condemned by Deputy Dr. Browne who speaks in a different tone from other members of the Labour Party. He is against this system although he tolerates it, but other Members of the Labour Party have different views.
The differential rent system ensures that families with low incomes or no incomes have accommodation as good as those in receipt of larger incomes. In my time I have placed five resolutions before Dublin Corporation asking them to modify this scheme. I did this because I was aware that there were injustices in some cases. These motions were continually defeated by the Labour Party and the Fine Gael Party who had the majority at that time. This shows that at a time when modification could have taken place no modification did take place. The manager indicated that if the system of differential rents were modified the pool of finances which he received from the existing system would be reduced and increases would have to be made to offset these reductions. Members of the council failed to have the matter fully examined because they felt there would be increases in some sections. However, concessions, which were not reductions, were given in certain cases but there was no alteration in the structure, and people are now saying something is wrong with the system.
An attempt is being made here to have the entire rents structure re-examined so as to bring about a situation where the flat rate tenants and the A scale differential rent tenants will have their rents modified and, indeed, substantially increased. I want the Minister to ensure that those people who contracted on a flat rent basis with the corporation many years ago will not have their rents altered because of modifications in either the differential rent system or the flat rent system. These people have paid the increases sought by the city manager and authorised by the Minister. These were legitimate increases for repairs and other factors which were taken into consideration at the time.
Some people seem to think that those living in Drimnagh, Ballyfermot, Cabra and Kimmage are paying rents which are too low. These people have long standing agreements and I would ask the Minister to ensure that these agreements, which have been in operation for many years, will not be altered in any way by any motion in this House. I would ask furthermore that the A scale tenants who have paid A scale rents when, at times, it was difficult to pay them, should not have these rents altered. I would not like to see a rehash of the rent structure of corporation houses because I feel an injustice would be done to people who have paid their way over the years.
It has been suggested that the entire system of differential rents should be altered. The question of rent assessment has also been brought up. It may be that local authority officials and local authorities themselves are not offering the best service for reporting alterations in incomes. I suggested, as did many other members of the city council, that local inquiry offices be established to deal not only with problems of differential rents but with problems of repairs and other matters related to the local authority and to the health authority. I suggested that these offices at which inquiries could be made without bringing people into the centre of the city should be established certainly in the larger built-up areas. There is an attempt now to establish offices in some areas but the local authority organisation would benefit very much from the establishment of more of these offices. There are difficulties if people must travel to the centre of the city to have a quick assessment made.
On the other hand, assessments are not made on the basis suggested by some speakers. A person who wants to have his rent altered at shorter periods than the yearly period can have that facility from Dublin Corporation. If he opts to have his rent assessed on a quarterly basis that indicates that he is prepared to submit on a quarterly basis the necessary forms required for any alteration in the assessment. I have heard no complaint from people who wanted their rent altered and who opted to have it altered on a three-monthly basis, a six-monthly basis or even on a monthly basis. I have not heard that they had any difficulty in getting this facility and they had no objection to presenting themselves with the necessary documentation to support their claims. One speaker said that people are dragged down to the rent office in Jervis Street. This is completely erroneous. The staff in Jervis Street are courteous and efficient. Sometimes they make mistakes, like all of us, but on the whole they do a reasonably good job and treat people with courtesy. Some people are difficult to deal with; some officials are difficult to deal with.
